Wimbledon men’s singles semis preview: Djokovic faces Shapovalov test; Berrettini takes on Hurkacz

Novak Djokovic can reach a seventh Wimbledon final on Friday, driven on by the desire to capture a sixth title at the All England Club and record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title.

The world No1 will be overwhelming favourite to defeat semi-final opponent Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian player he has already beaten six times out of six.

Victory for the Serb would send him into a Sunday championship match against either Italy’s Matteo Berrettini or Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the man who sent eight-time winner Roger Federer crashing in the quarter-finals.

Djokovic is playing in his 10th semi-final at Wimbledon and 41st at the majors while his progress at the event has comfortably taken his career earnings past the $150 million mark.

None of the other three pretenders have ever got this far at the tournament.

Only Berrettini has tasted the experience of a semi-final at the Grand Slams, at the 2019 US Open.

Apart from dropping the first set of his opener against British wildcard Jack Draper, Djokovic has been untroubled.

“I feel like I’ve been playing, hitting the ball well throughout the entire tournament, putting myself exactly where I want to be: semi-finals,” said 34-year-old Djokovic who can reach his 30th Slam final on Friday.

“Not spending too much energy. Now I really have to be…

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